Betrayal of the Heart
by Percyjacksonfan3
Summary: The scene in the Titan's Curse where Thalia kicks Luke off of the cliff. We all know there was more going on than Percy realized in that scene... here's a little look at Thalia's thoughts at the time. Written for PJO Ship Weeks 2014. Thaluke. Lot's of feels and angst.. Cover Image by Viria


**Takes place on Mount Tam- the fight scene in The Titan's Curse where, you know… Luke gets kicked off a cliff.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Rick owns PJatO and it's characters! Oh, and J.K. Rowling owns Dumbledore!**

**oooOOOooo**

"As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

Atlas's words hit Thalia much closer to the heart than they should have. You could read that sentence in so many ways, misinterpret it to have so many different meanings….

Her eyes shot to his, blue met blue, and Thalia wanted to curse him and hate him for still making butterflies flutter in her stomach. She didn't want to care about him anymore- at least then this, all of this, wouldn't hurt so much.

But Atlas meant Luke had been wrong about Thalia wanting to join Kronos's army, Thalia knew that. The words still sent a pang of hurt through her (deep down they may even have been true if Atlas had meant them in a different meaning). There was no way the titan could know the rest though, about her and Luke. All the promises made to one another, the proclamations of feelings, the hidden kisses and touches and-

She stopped herself there. Anytime but now she could think of those things. Now her life was in extreme danger and she needed to find a way out of it and a way to save her friends.

"I wasn't wrong," Luke croaked out. His words made some part of her relax- he still believed in her. And even though he was wrong to, she would never join Kronos, that made some selfish part of her ease. He still cared about her.

He might even still love her.

Thalia wanted to run to him. To hold him, comfort him and whisper to him that it was okay, everything was okay now, they would figure it all out….

But it wasn't. Nothing would be okay ever again if Luke didn't come back to the right side.

"Thalia," the way he said her name was like a plea and she had to squeeze her eyes shut at the sound. The Luke she knew would never plead, never stoop so low as to beg. It was _wrong_. Luke, oh Luke… how did they both get so far off path? How did they both stray so far from who they were?

She blamed herself. A part of her was so self-centered that she believed it to be because of her. If she hadn't left Luke, if she hadn't been turned into a gods awful tree…. he would still be _her Luke_. She would have stayed with him and Annabeth and gods, they would have been a family. They would have stayed at Camp, a safe and happy place where Thalia thinks she could have grown to love and be happy there.

But now it was all too late. There were too many memories and she knew if she even made it back to Camp Luke's face would haunt her everywhere she turned.

"You can still join us," Luke continued, his eyes looking desperate and making her feel like she had just been punched in the gut. "Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He gestured and next to us a pool of water appeared. A pond ringed in black marble that would definitely be big enough for the creat- Bessie.

Because it wasn't a creature, Thalia thought. It was Bessie, she had a name. And- and if she did what Luke wanted it would be like murder.

"Thalia," Luke continued and now his voice was soft and persuasive. Thalia's eyes flicked back up to look at his face against her will and she had to catch her breath once more at the sight of him. The scar…. the light made it look suddenly harsh on his face. He hadn't had that scar when she had known him. "Call the Ophiotaurus. And you will be more powerful than the gods."

Looking at him she was tempted, if only because it meant they would be together. But there was something cruel and manipulative in his eyes and when she didn't answer right away victory shone there against his will.

She did not want to be more powerful than the gods. Despite his flaws, a part of her loved her father. She would not destroy him or the home he loved so much.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye she saw Percy standing there, staring at Annabeth who was chained and gagged, Luke holding his sword at her throat. He was her cousin, her family. If she destroyed the gods she destroyed him. Gods knew he could annoy her sometimes but he was _Percy. _They were more than cousins, they were friends.

And even if he didn't know it yet he loved Annabeth. Just like Thalia did. And Annabeth loved him too. If Thalia joined Luke… they would never be able to be together.

And there was Camp. And the campers. Thalia may not love the gods, but she loved their children- her friends.

And then there was Annabeth. Beautiful, young Annabeth who wasn't so young anymore. Somehow she had grown up without Thalia noticing and now, Thalia thought with a shock, she was closer to Annabeth's age than Luke's.

Thalia had once told Luke that if it came down to a choice between him and the rest of the world, of him against everything else, she would choose him.

At the time she had meant it.

She looked into his eyes once more and saw that he was remembering that night too, that promise. It was what had kept him going, what had kept his faith in her strong.

The knowledge of that made Thalia want to stab something.

But she had made that promise to a different man, she saw that as well. The Luke that Thalia was in love with would never hurt Annabeth, never mind hold her hostage to use as blackmail. Luke wasn't the same and this man in front of Thalia… no matter how much it hurt and destroyed _her_, she would not give up the world to save him.

"Luke," she said, and it was broken and full of pain. "What _happened_ to you?"

So many emotions flashed in his eyes at her words and she ached inside. She so badly wanted to make him listen, make him understand….

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us! They have no right to rule the world!" Luke said and what made everything worse was that she did remember. She remembered cursing her father, poking fun at the Olympians. But she had been a child then, too self-absorbed in her own life to see that even if the gods weren't the best- nowhere close in fact- at ruling, they were the best the world had to offer.

Better than Kronos.

She shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."

"If you join me," Luke bargained, "it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please Thalia, if you don't agree…." He faltered and she saw real fear flash in his eyes.

It made her ache all the more.

"It's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."

Again he pleaded and Thalia hesitated once more. He looked so scared and unwilling. Did his life depend on this? Her choice? Was she sentencing him to some sort of death if she continued to fight against him?

Looking into his eyes it was almost like she could see her old friend. The face of the man she loved was different- marred now- but she could still have loved him. His appearance… she could care less about that.

Thalia loved _him_. Luke. His personality. The way he made her laugh, the pranks he pulled, how much he loved red Jello and how orange was his favourite artificial flavour but he hated actual oranges. She loved the way he kissed her and whispered in her ear that he had fallen in love with her.

Gods, she just wanted everything to be _different_.

But they weren't. They were standing on top of Mount Tam, Artemis was bearing the weight of the sky, Percy and Zoe were beside her, Grover was off with Bessie taking her to Olympus. Atlas was in front of her and right across from her was Luke, holding Annabeth captive.

It wasn't different. This was her life. This was her choice.

Before she could say anything- before she could even take a deep shuddering breath- Zoe spoke. "Do not, Thalia," the huntress warned. "We must fight them."

Luke waved his hand again and a fire appeared. If things were how Thalia wanted she would make a joke, asking if Luke had turned into Dumbledore while she was a tree. He would laugh and they would be Luke and Thalia again.

Not this. Not these people who fought one another and stood on different sides of a war.

The bronze brazier looked exactly like one from camp. In it was a sacrificial flame.

She couldn't look away.

"Thalia," Percy said. "No."

My eyes snapped to look at him but he was watching behind Luke, where the golden sarcophagus began to glow. Around us in the mist images appeared. As Thalia watched the ruins of the terrible and beautiful palace became whole and firm.

But it was an illusion made of fear and shadow. It wasn't real.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right her," Luke said. His voice was so strained and broken it didn't sound like him at all. Thalia couldn't look away from his as he spoke. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean and she followed his hand, feeling her heart twist as she saw a great army marching up the side of the mountain. Coming from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked. Hundreds and hundreds of monsters.

All on the enemy side.

A side she could join. A side with Luke.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke promised and she looked at him again. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

The only thing Thalia wanted was to believe him. She hurt because she wanted to trust him so badly.

But he shouldn't have threatened Camp Half-Blood. Or Annabeth.

Taking a breath and holding back the sudden tears that sprung to the corners of her eyes, she lowered her spear to level at him. "You're not Luke. I don't know you anymore."

The look in his eyes at her words killed something inside of her, something she would never get back. She felt it, near her heart, cracking and breaking and ripping apart.

"Yes you do, Thalia," he pleaded, begged. "Please. Don't make me…. Don't make him destroy you."

She stared at him and felt nothing. Maybe there was a tinge of something but it wasn't enough for Thalia to even know what emotion it was. The fact that he could even think of hurting her… it proved he wasn't Luke anymore. Luke would never hurt her.

Percy spoke before she could do anything. "Now."

Without a pause the three of us charged. Thalia went straight for Luke. Her shield was so powerful, so terrifying, that the dracaenae around Luke dropped the golden coffin and fled.

She ran straight towards him, not stopping to think because if she did she knew she wouldn't be able to do this. Luke snarled at her, like a wild animal, and raised his sword- the one that could hurt both mortals and demigods and monsters.

She hit the sword away with her spear and between them lightning flared. Bright and full of energy.

From her emotions. Considering how crazy they were right now it was no wonder her powers were acting up. Subconscious self-defence.

After that it was all reflex. Duck, dodge, jab, parry, twist. Don't look in his eyes, don't look at his face, duck, jump, side-step. Her training kicked in, her powers made appearances and she thought that maybe when she jumped she even hovered in the air a foot or two above the ground for a second longer than gravity should have allowed.

Lightning cackled and flashed around them and Thalia didn't even notice the rest of the people there. It was only her and Luke.

"Please, Thals," he was breathing heavily and so was she, but his voice was just like old times…. "You could still join us. We could- we could be together. Us. Like we both wanted-"

"Luke," her voice was pained and when she finally met his eyes his were full of love, despite the fight they were in. "Stop. Please. Stop this, all of it. Come back to Camp. For me."

He hesitated.

Yelling and screaming went on around them but Thalia didn't spare a thought on it. Luke was all that mattered now.

"I can't," he said, and his voice was desperate. Her eyes hardened, her grip tightened on her spear and she lifted her shield higher, making him wince. "Thals, you don't understand-"

She slashed him across the chest with her spear.

Not deep, not fatally- she couldn't bring herself to kill him, even now- but deep enough to draw blood. He looked down at the wound, eyes wide, and his free hand lifted to touch the blood starting to flow from it.

"Thalia," he breathed but she didn't let him continue.

"I loved you," she said, low enough for only him. Only ever him. "I'm still in love with you. And you said-," she faltered before she swallowed and spoke again. "You told me you loved me too."

His eyes held shock, the hand that's fingered were crimson with blood dropped to his side. "Thalia-"

"You're a _liar_." She whispered but at the stricken look on his face she knew he heard her loud and clear.

She tried to stab him again but this time he stepped away and they continued the only dance they had ever danced.

It was sad, really. Heartbreakingly sad.

As it went on lightning flashed brighter still around them, Thalia could feel it. They were both sweating and she pressed Luke back, back, further back with the aura of her shield. Luke was not immune to Aegis, although he had seen it enough times. He was retreating, wincing each time his eyes fell to the image of Medusa and growling in frustration.

His blade never struck her. He never cut her or even hit her skin hard enough to bruise.

Part of it was that she knew him. Knew him like the back of her hand. The way he fought, his weak spots… everything. They had practiced day and night fighting against one another. But never like this.

Before they had been trying to teach one another quick reflexes, new moves, how to defend themselves and then, when they had mastered that, how to beat their opponent.

They had been equally as good.

Now they were fighting to actually hurt each other and Thalia didn't want to think of the sick and twisted irony.

A part of her- one that she had thought died only seconds ago- reared its head and whispered in her brain that he wasn't trying to hurt her. Not really. That he still loved her and he _couldn't-_

"Yield," she yelled at him, distracting herself from her own thoughts and desperately wanting him to. "You never could beat me, Luke."

She didn't want to think about the implications of that either.

He bared his teeth, either angry she had brought it up or angry because it was still true, even now. "We'll see, my old friend."

"Friend?" She asked him. "That's it, Luke? Even now? Still just friends? You never could admit to anybody else-"

"I told you how I felt about you!" Luke yelled at her, true emotion raging in his voice. "I told you-"

"Me." Thalia advanced, pushing him further back still. "You could never admit to anybody else- nobody else at camp knew anything about it. I should know. I asked them if you ever spoke about me."

Luke looked as if she'd hit him. "You were a tree!" He said. "Dead, for all I knew. How was I supposed to know- how-"

Thalia closed her eyes. "You just _were_."

"I was heartbroken after you died!" He screamed, but she thinks she's the only one who heard. The rest of them were too busy fighting their own battles. He continued, quieter. "You had been ripped away from me and I- I-"

Thalia met his eyes and so much passed between them. She felt the tears finally pool in her eyes and saw his face drain of any colour at the sight of them.

"Thals," he whispered.

She shook her head. "Don't."

As one they both raised their blades and tried to strike one another. The fought on, a whirlwind of clashes and stabs and swipes. Thalia felt his sword just miss her neck and still the tears stayed in her eyes. Her heart hammered and broke, her stomach twisted and became painful.

Luke didn't look much better.

Before Thalia knew it she had backed him up to the edge of the cliff. Both their faces were sweaty and Luke's absolutely glistened. His chest heaved and as she breathed in a deep breath she saw him staring at her, as if in challenge.

The kept fighting; until.

Luke lunged at her and Thalia raised her shield arm and he slammed into it. His sword skittered to the side- where it landed Thalia didn't know and didn't care. She never looked away from Luke as she raised her spear and pointed it at his throat.

Suddenly everything went quiet.

"Well?" Luke asked her and it was a challenge if she ever heard it. It was more than a simple question. He was asking her. This was the true test.

Did she really still love him? Enough to let him live?

Or was he dead enough to her to kill?

What really got to Thalia was the way his voice trembled. It was full of many emotions, but one stood out and gripped her- the fear.

He was scared of her.

She hated herself for that. The Thalia he had known would never be able to hurt Luke, never mind make him actually scared of her.

It was only a second later that she realized she was trembling. Not from anger, or fury- from helplessness.

The only thing that got her attention was Annabeth's voice behind her, desperate. "Don't kill him!"

"He's a traitor," Thalia said, wanting to make Annabeth understand. She had always felt like a mother to the girl but never had she wanted Annabeth to listen to her more than she did now. Her blue eyes never left Luke's face, her spear never trembled. "A traitor!"

Luke seemed to shrink a little at her words and for a moment she thought she read a message in them- 'I'm sorry.'

But it was just her imagination.

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth said and still Thalia didn't look away from him. "To Olympus. He… he'll be useful."

Actual fear seemed to flash in Luke's eyes at the young girl's words and then it left to be replaced by disdain.

He never looked away from Thalia either.

"Is that was you want, Thalia?" Luke sneered. " To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"

She hesitated and it was the worst mistake of her life.

Luke saw it and desperately grabbed for the spear- and Thalia, not thinking, acting on reflexes born from years of play fighting with him, kicked his chest.

The look on his face, the terror in Annabeth's scream… Thalia would never forget it.

Luke teetered and you could see it, just before he lost his balance, the realization on his face followed closely by terror. Thalia- acting without thinking once more- made a desperate grab.

But it was too late.

Luke fell back- and as he did his eyes met hers.

He did not look scared. He met her eyes and, as he fell, he reached a hand up, as if to try and stroke her face. Falling fifty feet through the air…

She looked away as he hit the rocks below and swallowed back a sob.

The rest of them all appeared beside her and looked down at his broken form. Thalia looked down once more and saw a giant from the army below look up and say, clearly for everyone to hear, "Kill them."

She felt stiff, sick to her stomach with grief and regret, and she didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face.

As javelins from below rushed up to meet them all, the only thing that saved Thalia's life was Percy pulling her back from the edge.

Luke's face was imprinted behind her eyelids every time she blinked.

She joined the Hunters of Artemis later that very night. There wasn't a chance in the world she would ever fall in love again.

As the years went on she did what all of the Hunters did, what Artemis had done when Orion was killed.

She survived. And grieved.

And she never forgot.

oooOOOooo

**Cheesy ending but I tried! I've been wanting to write this scene forever and finally I got around to it! Thalia and Luke's ship week provided the perfect opportunity!**

**Review?**

**Love you all!  
**

**Percyjacksonfan3**


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